Pairing Nikon with GPS

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Originally Posted by werdan

Hey since we are talking about GPS units and cameras..

For people with a SONY camera with a built-in GPS unit, there's a way of minimising the GPS fix acquisition time. Sony provides a file for download from their Japanese site, that basically contains the GPS almanac for the next 30 days .....

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It's called an aGPS file.
(as already said a GPS almanac)

Nikon have a similar file for their GPS and their cameras with GPS(which I think is only the D5300 and maybe the D5500).

I have a vague recollection that Pentax has a similar file too, but don't know about Canon.
I assume they do the aGPS file system is common

Most, if not all GPSes may have a similar system, whether its called an aGPS file assisted GPS or maybe a 'firmware update' or whatever.

While they are handy, they don't help with the biggest issue that GPSes have.
If you travel more than a few hundred klms with the GPS off, it has trouble acquiring it's first fix as it doesn't know where it is in relation to which satellites are in view.
ie. it needs to work out where it is, to know where it is!

an aGPS file really only helps if the GPS hasn't moved from where it was last switched on. ie. almanac helps here as the GPS assumes it's in the same spot so it (thinks it) knows what constellation of satellites should be in view.

austastar: if you do go down the Bt GPS route, you don't want to use Nikons aGPS files.
If you get the Qstarz Bt logger, then you'll want to look for the relevant aGPS file from their site.
I don't have a Qstarz, just my Holux at the moment, but my guess is that they'll have some software for PC that can be used.
the general path that these companies use is that they'll have one software with the pretty windows and flashy buttons where you can view the recorded GPS log and save it to xml, kml, or whatever file type and view it via some maps.
If you look in their download or support area, you may find an obscure software for configuring the GPS logger.
It'll almost certainly be that really basic software that will allow the updating of the almanac.

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Originally Posted by AK83

It's called an aGPS file.
(as already said a GPS almanac)

If you get the Qstarz Bt logger, then you'll want to look for the relevant aGPS file from their site.
......................
If you look in their download or support area, you may find an obscure software for configuring the GPS logger.
It'll almost certainly be that really basic software that will allow the updating of the almanac.

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Hi,
it looks like the Qstarz is going to be easy to do, it seems to be built into the software that you use to set up the GPS.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/11/158.jpg

And with the other info re the Sony AGPS, I have found the menu item on the camera...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/11/159.jpg

and will have a play with it.

Cheers

Hi,
I'm still chasing this one, looks like the Nikon 7500 will do it from a tablet or a bluetooth GPS according to the downloaded manual.

Cheers
Attachment 127107

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AK83

It's called an aGPS file.
(as already said a GPS almanac)

I have a vague recollection that Pentax has a similar file too,

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Not that I know of but I will check as I have the Pentax GPS on my camera.

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Originally Posted by p38arover

Not that I know of but I will check as I have the Pentax GPS on my camera.

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You only really need an aGPS(alamanac file) if you're in a real hurry and can't wait up to an hour for a GPS fix to be made if the unit hasn't been turned on for a lengthy period .. or moved the GPS a considerable distance since last fix.

So if you haven't turned the GPS on for a while, or have moved (eg.) 1000klms since you last turned the GPS on, it has an almanac file in it's memory that sort'a tells it where it most likely is.
I think the specs were that this almanac is good for about 300 miles(500klms), but I've moved more than that and some of my GPSes I've had over the years only took about a min to reacquire their locations.

I've played around with these almanac files trying to confuse the GPSes to think that they were back a few years, and I recall one of them may have taken about 15mins sitting on a south only facing window sill to reacquire its position. It really only saw one or two satellites at any one time, then it would drop them quickly and get another .. finally it found two satellites at once and within 30sec it reacquired the almanac info it needed and posi found.

I remember a while back having strange thoughts of getting a Pentax K1 because it has on sensor image stabilisation. But not just for the sensor IS, more so because Pentax's GPS has a feature where it uses the image stabilisation in conjunction to allow up to two mins of star tracking, where it moves the sensor in relation to the Earth's rotation using the GPS info!
In camera star tracking! [thumbsupbig] If I had a Pentax, I'd have got their GPS the day it was announced as an accessory.
My biggest regret was getting a fixed GPS onto my Nikons. I reckon I'd have been close to suicidal had I got the 3x more expensive Nikon GPS .. total waste of money, crap implementation of a feature .. bluetooth GPS on a Nikon is much better.

My Pentax Q, K-7, and K-5 all have in body sensor stabilisation but only the K-5 interfaces to the GPS for star tracking (AstroTracer).

The K-3 and K-1 also do it but the K-1 has in-built GPS.